StrongVPN Review

StrongVPN Review Summary StrongVPN is a large, US-based VPN provider. The company is a popular one, but somewhat unimpressive in our opinion. Their privacy policy is reasonable on paper, but in real life, the company is known for taking an aggressive stance towards filesharers. There is a lack of transparency when it comes to technical ...

Review Overview

Speed

Reliability

Compatibility

Value for Money

85

Our Rating

Summary : Strong VPN is a quality VPN service with many respectable features.

85

StrongVPN Review

Summary

StrongVPN is a large, US-based VPN provider. The company is a popular one, but somewhat unimpressive in our opinion. Their privacy policy is reasonable on paper, but in real life, the company is known for taking an aggressive stance towards filesharers. There is a lack of transparency when it comes to technical security, and the company is reluctant to answer questions about user privacy. Because the company refuses to be forthright when it comes to security and the high cost of the software, we do not recommend this client for anyone wishing to utilize a VPN client.

That said, we do always recommend that people make their own decisions. With this in mind, we will continue on with our review in an effort to provide information.

Pricing Tiers

StrongVPN is one of the most expensive VPN service providers on today’s market. While the basic package is only $7.00 per month, it is incredibly basic, and not a plan that we would recommend. The basic package offers PPTP only, an insecure product, and it is touted as the company’s primary offering.

If the only thing you want a VPN for is to access geo-restricted content, PPTP is enough. If, on the other hand, you are after security and anonymity, you simply need more.

OpenVPN, the only protocol recommended today for users who demand privacy, starts at $10 per month with StrongVPN. It should be noted that $10 per month is where many VPN providers top out; StrongVPN charges up to $30 per month for their best offering.StrongVPN offers no monthly payment plan. Subscribers must pay a minimum of three months at a time. This means that for the cheapest plan, you are shelling out $60. There is a seven day money-back guarantee that allows you to try the service before you pay such an expensive price.

The service is also packed with extra fees for features that other providers offer for free. For example, the number of times you are permitted to switch servers depends on what you are willing to pay.

StrongVPN allows you to only connect one device at a time. This means that if you leave your computer turned on and connected to the Internet at home, you can’t connect with StrongVPN from your mobile device on the go.

Customer Support

If there is any area where StrongVPN scores points, it is with their customer service department. Live Support is available on a consistent basis and response times are quick. There are staff members available that speak different languages, a benefit for those customers who do not speak English.

We were, however, left with the impression that customer service agents are either not permitted or unable to answer technical questions. When we tested customer service by asking a few technical questions, we were put on “hold” for an expert. The expert did not answer our questions to our satisfaction.

If your questions regard simple setup or sales, you can count on support to go above and beyond to help you. Outside of those simple questions though, StrongVPN’s support may not be good enough for VPN newbies.

Privacy and Security

StrongVPN has a good privacy policy on paper. The actions of StrongVPN seem to be at odds with their stated policy. We always prefer that VPN providers keep no logs, but we do understand that some are required to do so by their country of origin. That said, StrongVPN has a reputation for bumping people from their service for filesharing activities and copyright infringement. This information is only available when companies track browser activity. This is something we simply cannot look past.

The servers owned by StrongVPN use everything from 128-bit to 256-bit encryption. Unfortunately, which you are using is virtually unidentifiable and you are not given the opportunity to choose your level of encryption.

The StrongVPN Website

The StrongVPN website is nicely designed and information is clearly laid out. Information is presented in an easy to find manner, with only the need to click on the obvious links to discover more.

Signing Up

Signing up with StrongVPN only requires that you fill out a form, but that form is quite lengthy. Where other providers only ask for an email address and payment information, StrongVPN asks for much more, as you can see below:

While we like the fact that subscribers can pay with Bitcoin, the requirement of this extensive amount of information makes using that option a bit of a waste. You can also pay via major credit card, PayPal, wire transfer, Stripe or Western Union/check.

We downloaded StrongVPN for Windows and found it to be fairly basic. Unfortunately, as we’ve mentioned, there is a limit on how many times you can switch your server locations and, given the high cost of the service, a deal breaker.

If the ability to switch servers is not important to you and you continue with your purchase plan, you will find that StrongVPN is easy to install and set up following on-screen prompts.

Supported Platforms

Mac users can utilize StrongVPN easily. There are also setup guides for Android and Linux. If you want to use StrongVPN on your iOS device, it must be a jailbroken one.

Conclusion

What we like about StrongVPN:

Well thought out website

Number of customer service options

Performance results are strong

7 day money back guarantee

What we don’t like about StrongVPN:

Lack of technical answers from support

Very basic client for the money spent

High cost for service and features offered

While there are basic features of this service that we like, that is all that we like. Unfortunately, we cannot recommend StrongVPN to anyone who wants more than a bare-bones service. The VPN client is more expensive than most and, in our opinion, you don’t get what you pay for. There are several other VPN service providers that offer more bang for the buck that we readily recommend to a wide variety of potential subscribers.